Tag: Vision

John…Part 2

John’s writings identify the type of leadership he provided for the church. As I mentioned last week, several of these qualities provide an example for us today.

Fellowship: John understood the value of fellowship among Christians and with the Lord. He urged Christians to walk in fellowship with God and each other.

Vision: John knew the future of the church depended on men who were willing to work in the fields of harvest. He also knew such men needed support.

Servant: John’s writings about Jesus as a servant were followed by his own example to the church. Reading through his letters shows the qualities of a servant leader.

Vision

In the construction industry, leaders examine blueprints and demonstrate the ability to see the finished product in their mind. Only when they see it in their mind can they follow the blueprint accurately.

Spiritual leaders must demonstrate the same ability. To help Christians reach the goals set before them, leaders must see what it looks like in their mind.

Casting this kind of vision before others will help them stay focused and energized for the journey.

Mistakes are easily made in the construction phases when there is no vision. The same is true for both the construction of buildings and the future of the church.

Leadership Character

What image describes good leadership? Based on many leadership discussions, the canvas would be filled with images of character, service, compassion, vision, and more.

The image of character is a wonderful place to begin.

Character is a choice made by each individual. Wayne Dyer said, “Our lives are a sum total of the choices we have made.” Therefore, when we blend all our choices together, we find a picture of character.

Maybe this explains why Joshua urged Israel to make the choice he made for his family, one of “serving the Lord.” Perhaps, it is the choice we should make also.

Expectations

Most people tend to live up to the expectations of others. Regardless of what others think, however, we need to aim high. When we understand Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:20, maybe, just maybe, we can develop a greater vision of what we can accomplish.

When leaders develop vision, one that sees our God correctly and sees ourselves correctly, we take steps to fulfill something beyond our capabilities.

Instead of allowing fear to control or dictate the decisions that ultimately limit our abilities, we need to rethink what we want to accomplish.

Passionate leadership fuels the future of growth and achievement and when it does, impossibilities vanish.

Essential Leadership

What is essential and what is not? Spiritually speaking, there are many answers: Here are four.

1) Character: General Schwarzkopf said, “Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without strategy.”

2) Passion: It’s about sacrifice. Knowing what we are willing to give up is essential to our leadership.

3) Vision: Vision is about seeing into the future. Faith is essential to the vision of spiritual leadership.

4) Goals: David Schwartz said, “Goals are as essential to success as air is to life.” Goals are the essential fuel for leading.

These are only four areas that are essential to our leadership.

A Tenacious Leader

A tenacious leader possesses a certain ability to hold on to something tightly with an incredible determination.

Look around. It does not take much to see how tenacity affects all areas of life, from recreation to religion. When we examine our priorities we generally find our tenacity.

How can we become more tenacious?

1) Be passionate and remove the impossibility factor.
2) Know what is worth dying for.
3) Have a clear vision of God.
4) Challenge yourself and others to do something great!

These ideas can create a whole new approach to our leadership and move others to greater heights of fulfillment in the Lord’s kingdom.

Essential Leadership

What is essential and what is not? Spiritually speaking, there are a number of components that play a key role.

1) Character: The late General Schwarzkopf clearly indicated that character trumps strategy.

2) Passion: The origin of this word involves suffering. What are we willing to give up to lead?

3) Vision: Vision is about faith, and faith is critical to the development of leadership vision.

4) Goals: Without goals we have no clear way of knowing where we are going.

These are only four areas, but each of them are essential to effective leadership.

Leading by Design

At times, “flying by the seat of the pants” rules our approach to leading. Successful leadership, however, requires a dedicated effort to establish a systematic method for developing and executing a plan.

Designing the direction to lead means a consideration of three essential qualities.

Vision – the ability to see what cannot be seen, or as spiritual leaders, seeing Him who unseen.

Collaboration – the ability to work with others and the willingness to incorporate their ideas.

Ingenuity
– creativity goes a long way when investigating the design process for decision-making.

These three qualities go far in understanding how to take leadership to the next level.

Analysis and Communication

One of the greatest challenges to any area of leadership involves communication. When communication lacks clarity, the result brings confusion and frustration. How can leaders analyze and communicate their vision, mission, and values more effectively?

Use easy to understand language. Terminology is important.

Be careful about assumptions.
Do not make the mistake of assuming.

Keep the message concise. Avoid sharing everything. Less is more.

Remember the old K.I.S.S. acronym.
Keep it short and simple!

Consider these ideas when trying to analyze and communicate matters of vision, mission, and values as leaders.

Execution

As we begin 2022, execution cannot be overstated. All the resolutions in the world are merely words without execution. Goals and plans are simply ideas on a piece of paper without execution. Regardless of how good your ideas may be, they are worthless without execution.

James Clear recently said it this way, ”If you’re not working hard, ideas don’t matter. The best idea is worthless without execution. If you’re already working hard, ideas are crucial. Most effort is wasted on mediocre ideas.”

Develop a team of strong idealists who are willing to work hard at reaching the goals and vision.